Cooking & Eating & Living in Paris (& Leaving it, sometimes)

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Everything you always wanted to know about…

…recipe writing is to be found in The Recipe Writer’s Handbook by Barbara Gibbs Ostman and Jane L. Baker. I wouldn’t have thought that such a book existed at all – yet I’ve found it in London by chance, while killing some time at marvellous Foyles flagship store in Charing Cross Road. Since then, I’m happily reading. The authors treat their subject as if world peace was at stake and they ask the right questions right away: “What is the soul of a written recipe?…Is there a magic to popular recipes?” and so on. Do they give answers, too? Well, absolutely!

Only here you will learn how to use verbs like glaze, grate, grill and grind properly; only here you’ll get clear definitions of what it takes to write down words like bake, braise, boil or broil; only here you’ll refine your language skills when it comes to deglazing, degreasing, diluting, dissolving, drizzling, draining, dusting. And only here you’ll read this kind of poetry: “A recipe is a creative venture from start to finish” or: “Recipe writing is a new art form.”

Whatever it is, it’s a lot of fun, too. And I thank the authors for offering me a real chance to enhance my own recipe section by following their good advice. Check it out: I’ve just added a new “creative venture”, dealing with Oven-roast Cod Cuts with a Crust – you see? The book is unfolding its magic already…!